Nonwoven fibrous webs have been used to produce absorbent articles useful, for example, as absorbent wipes for surface cleaning, as gas and/or liquid absorbents for filtration media, and as barrier materials for sound and/or heat absorption. In some applications requiring high absorbency, it may be desirable to use a high porosity nonwoven web made up of high surface area fine fibers. For certain gas or liquid filtration applications, it may also be desirable to incorporate fine sorbent particulates into a web formed of fine nonwoven fibers. Fine fibers, however, have a tendency to collapse or crush in handling, thereby decreasing the porosity and/or surface area available for absorption, while increasing the pressure drop of a fluid passing through the nonwoven article. For gas and liquid filtration applications in particular, it may be desirable to maintain a low pressure drop through the nonwoven article even while maintaining high absorbency.